Joint for connecting adjacent units of sheet-piling or the like.



P. W. SKINNER. JoINII EOE GONNEGTING ADJAGENT UNITS 0E SHEET PILING 0E THE LIKE.

I APPLICATION FILED MAB.. 13, 1907. I 907, 902. Patented Deo. 29, 1908.

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UNITED STATES' rATENT Vcrimen.

FRANK w. sKINNRR, or TOMPKINsvrLLR,` Nnw YORK.

JOINT FOR coNNncmrNG AnJAcENr UNITS oF SHEET-Prune 0R TBE Lum.

i Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 29, '1908.

Application filed March 13, 1907, Serial No. 362,186.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, FRANK W. SKINNER, a

i citizen of the United States, residing at No.

50 Sherman avenue, Tompkinsville, in the county of Richmond and State of New York, have invented a new` and useful Form of Joint for Connecting Adjacent Units of Sheet- Piling and other Structural Elements.

My invention relates to a simple and economical method of forming flat jaws on the edge of a sheet pile unit to engage the adj acent edge of another sheet pile unit; to a method of temporarily closing said jaws during driving toexclude 4dirt and other foreign material; and to a methodv of. utilizing the resilienceof the jaws to increase the tight-j ness of the joint, and to special forms of male joint members engaging the jaws.

Joints for metal sheet piles have heretofore generally been made with a curved, hooked or flange connection adapted to resist their Y transverse separation and to permit .longitudinal motion only between the adjacent ile units. This construction is generally eavy and costly. and limited to theuse'of special shapes and given dimensionsand are t us very restricted in their application.

My invention provides a joint composed of the fewest and simplest possible members having no excess of metal or weight, composed of plain flat bars, and can be applied to simple plates or to sheet piles of any dimensionv or form of cross section. 1t is. very easily manufactured and driven, has the minimum exposure to injury, .can be easily repaired when distorted, and provides for very tight closure without expensive 'or delicate fitting. l j

lt essentially consists of'a new and special method of forming on a metal sheet pile a joint analogous to the familiar tongue and groove joint commonly used for wooden sheet piles. 1n my joint the spring action of the jaws, combined with the drawing tendency developed in driving by thebeveled pile point, tends to insure close engagement of adjacent pile units without the necessityexisting in other forms of joints, for a positive interlocking device.

Figure 1 is an end view and Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a sheet metal pile provided with the simplest form ofmy joint. Fig. 3 is an end elevation of two sheet pile units in engagement and having joints of the same type as that shown in Figs. 1 and 2, but with their details slightly modiiied. Figs. 3 to 13, inclusive are transverse sections through the male Vand lfemale parts of my joint modified by simple variations of detail.

,In all' figures the same, or corresponding parts, are indicated by the same reference numbers.

1n Figs. 1 and 2 the female part of the joint Vis formed by a longitudinal strip 2 and filler 3,

riveted to the edge of the web plate 1, thus forming two jaws adapted to engage the opposite plain edge yof the web plate, acting as a male member of the joint. The lower end of the pile is beveled on the line 4 5, with the acute angle 'driven next the preceding pile unit, and thus tends to carry the pile in the direction 4-5 as it descends and thus maintain automatically close engagement of the male and female members of the joint and promote contact of the adjacent edges of the webs of the sheet pile units.

1n Fig.y 3 a joint is shown with the female member made symmetrical by a jaw plate, 2, riveted on each side of the web plate 1, the latter thus acting as a filler of the same thickness as the o posite edge of the web which forms the ma e member of the joint.

Fig. 4 shows a modification of the joint of Figsgl and 2, made by bending one jaw of the female joint so that they converge and tends to temporarily close the opening.

This closure is of great value in'excluding earth and other materials while the pile is being driven and afterwards before the male member 1s engaged withit, and is also valuable in that when the jaws are forced apart to close the joint positively, makes a superior engagement between the male and female members, automatically compensating for irregularities of construction, obviating necessity of exact dimensions or clearances, and insuring a tight joint as well as one that can easily be restored for future repeated driving.

Figs. 5 and 6 show how the joint of Fig. 3 can be easily made into a spring contact, closed joint by bending the flat jaw plates 2, 2, even after they are riveted to the web plate, asin Fig. 5, so thatl their outer edges converge as in Fig. 6 thus forming a joint equivalent to that of Fig. 4, but with the advantage of being concentric and symmetrical with the pile web 1.

Fi 7 shows, at the right a symmetrical fema e joint modified from the joints of Figs.

by the entrance of the male member a posiy ltive spring action is developed which tends 5 and 6 by the insertion of fillers 3, 3, between the jaw plates 2, 2 and the pile web 1, thus providing for a reinforced or special male member. The left part of Fig. 7 shows a reinforced male .joint adapted to engage the female joint on the right of the same ure.

gFig. 8 shows a female part of a joint made with the jaw plate bent to obviate the use of a filler plate thus economizing material.

Fig. 9 is the male member of a joint reinforced by a bar 8, riveted to the longitudinal edge of the pile.

Fig. 10 is the male member of a joint reinforced by bars 9, 9 riveted on both sides of the longitudinal edge of the pile web. These may be of uniform thickness or may be beveled as shown, or may be otherwise varied to provide continuous engagement with the jaws of the female part of the oint.

Fig. 11 is the male part of a joint with reinforcement integral with the pile web.

Fig. 12 is the male member of a joint with the reinforcement plate 11, and a longitudinal edge 12, of the pile temporarily separatedso that engagement with the aws of the female member of the joint will tend to force them together towards the positions indicated by the dotted lines, and thus develop spring action promoting the tightness and security of the joint.

Fig. 13 is the male member of a joint made with two reinforcement bars bent outwards to secure spring action and tight contact when in engagement with the female part of the joint.

Fig. 14 is a transverse section through two sheet piles in engagement, each of which has a special section made with an angle bar provided with a joint made by flat bars riveted to the pile web. It shows one of the pile units with the female part of the oint temporarily closed by having the outer edge of the plate 6 bent over against the pile web 1, in a manner to exclude earth etc. from the joint until it is bent back to the position 14- by the entrance of the male member. In these pile units, one edge of the web 1, directly, engages the jaws of the female part o f the j the oint, overlapping the web 1, of the adj acent pile unit.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the simplest construction of my joint and demonstrate some of the ways in which it can be practically constructed and applied. l do not wish to limit myself to the details here shown, but my invention includes the general type of tongue and groove joint made with 'flat plates, or with flat plates combined with the pile webs, the arrangement of joint members so that they are displaced by the engagement of the male and female parts of the joint, the temporary closure of the female part of the joint, and the development of spring contact between the male and female parts of the joint.

I do not wish to limit my invention to piles or to sheet piles but may apply it to any other form of construction to which it proves available.

I claim:

1. A sheet pile with the longitudinal opening of the female joint temporarily closed.

2.In a sheet pile the combination of a temporarily closed longitudinal joint inember and a beveled pile point.

3. In a sheet pile unit, the conibiimtion of astraight flat web plate and an offset jaw plate on one edge forming with the web plat o a female part of a joint.

4. In a sheet )ile unit the combination of a web plate with jaw plates riveted to ono edge thereof and inclined together beyond the edge of the web.

CHAs. W. BUCKNALL, MAX Wniss.

oint and itself forms the male part olI 

